The traditional holiday season is a time for families to connect, joy to be spread, and of course, gifts. As society moves into the technological age, the ability to purchase gifts has become as easy as it has ever been. The “gift crazy” generation has moved the focus of the holidays away from traditional values and more towards the importance of gift giving and receiving.

The impact of the gift loving public saw 2019 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales total close to $16.5 billion dollars, and let’s not forget the lack of self control and personal awareness that is displayed every year in our nation’s favorite stores.

Furthermore, the country’s gift obsession has started to embody the meaning of the holiday season, flooding TV commercials, magazines, radio stations with gift advertisements. The one minded, business oriented holiday season has limited the true meaning of the holiday to Christmas songs written by a much more appreciative and family oriented generation. No longer are the days of singing Christmas carols, cutting down trees, making gingerbread houses. The modern day Christmas spirit is embodied through buying gifts and finding the best deals.

The nation’s traditional family values have been lost in the fray of holiday gifts, and it has left our nation blind and insensitive to the true meaning of the holiday season. Gifts have replaced acts of kindness and left the holiday season lacking the magic and passion it once possessed.

I have been subject to this change in values in past holiday seasons, and I have let my mood be dictated by the gifts I received. A few years back, my family and I were exchanging gifts around the tree and it came the time where my grandmother would give me my gift. She had given my sibling a very nice, expensive present leading me to believe that I would be receiving something of the same caliber.

After unwrapping my gift, I found a $10 snow globe with the price sticker still attached. Immediately, after receiving my gift, my mood lowered and some of the positivity and magic that surrounds the Christmas season was diminished solely based on one gift I received.

This example is a perfect summary of the nation’s gift obsession and the havoc it wreaks on today’s society. Today’s generation needs to realize that the holidays are a time to spend with family, and there is more to Christmas than just receiving gifts.

To truly appreciate the holiday season, the nation needs to appreciate the ones around them and act in a way the values the holiday’s true meaning and spirit. To support this mindset, the nation needs to deescalate the importance of holiday gift buying and focus more on what is really important.